I have a newsletter that goes out onnce a week and a lot of the content stays the same. I'd like to copy it and then make the content changes before sending the new version. Does phplist not allow for this? Seems like a major oversight.
Thanks,
Amanda

AmandaElizabeth wrote:I have a newsletter that goes out onnce a week and a lot of the content stays the same. I'd like to copy it and then make the content changes before sending the new version.

A message template would typically hold those parts of the HTML message/newsletter that remain unchanged. This is usually fine if the message content doesn't have too many sections that remain unchanged. If you need multiple content areas, you could take a look at the PBTS_XTRA plugin. See http://docs.phplist.com/PhplistHacks

Does the message template save the from line and the subject line and the text and the footer of the email? I am constantly having to retype all those areas every time I send the newsletter out and they stay the same from week to week so I would like to just copy them over or use them from a template - (the text field contains a link to the newsletter online, so that stays the same.)Thanks, Amanda

rolan wrote:I made a small hack to messages.php which adds a new link to copy the contents of a message into a new draft message.

This looks like an interesting mod.

Here is how you use it:

1. Click on "messages". Find the message you want to re-send.
2. Click on the link "duplicate" to the right of that message.
3. This creates a new draft message that is the same as the previous message, and when the page re-loads you will find yourself in the list of draft messages. Your new draft message should be at the top of the list.
4. To edit & send the message, click the "edit" link on the message--then go in & edit & send as usual.

Note that part of rolan's code was eaten by the forum software. Below is a version that should work right, or you can download the file here:

How do you go about installing this patch. Do you have to run it via telnet or something along those lines?

I have a mail list that uses a lot of formatting in the body. My template is set up for the header and the footer, but the content needs to live in a table to provide formatting. If I was doing the sending I would simply copy and paste the code and then make the changes, but it needs to be easy for a non-technical person. My PHP knowledge is limited, enough to be dangerous.

This is exactly a feature that we can use, as we send similar e-mails each time but the changes are not suited to a template approach. It's working fine for us. Perhaps the patch can be added to the codebase?

I had previously looked at the repetition feature, but that requires a static message template with either a changing attachment or a section of dynamic content from a web location.

In our case, we are sending out messages where we cut-and-paste text from our magazine table of contents into an e-mail. The text doesn't exist in that form online and isn't an attachment.

Another use case for us is when we mistakenly send out an e-mail with an incorrect link or another typo. The feature allows us to duplicate the mostly correct message, fix the errors, add a note saying why we are resending it, and then send it out again.

The Repetition feature appears to use a schedule for sending messages and so wouldn't fit this ad hoc resending need.